The warning signs were there; there’s no point in denying it: as early as Season 4 (see our review of The Boys Season 4) and in our preview of The Boys Season 5, we had noted how the show’s long-standing flaws had reached a critical point. But this is not meant to be an attempt to pass ourselves off as some kind of phantasmagorical Nostradamus; on the contrary, because not even in our worst-case scenarios did we imagine such a collapse, where every narrative and structural choice (or at least, the few that exist) turned out to be wrong or embarrassing. It was the final season, and every single problematic trend has amplified rather than been minimized—an approach we cannot in any way endorse.
Not even a slapdash finale (as intriguing on paper as it is disheartening and poorly executed) or a couple of emotionally impactful moments can save the day this time, precisely because it was the conclusion of a 7-year epic and the viewer definitely deserved better.
Resistance vs. Patriot, at any cost
But, as usual, we need to take a step back to reconnect with the story: the fifth season of The Boys begins about a year after the conclusion of the fourth, in a status quo that’s a far cry from the series’ comfort zone. Patriot (Antony Starr) is now in complete and maniacal control of the entire country, Annie (Erin Moriarty) leads a meager resistance in a desperate attempt to oppose him, Butcher (Karl Urban) is missing, and the rest of the Boys are about to be sentenced to death in one of the Vought-branded concentration camps. But somehow, the burden will still fall on them to regroup and put an end to this conflict once and for all, before Patriot achieves his personal deification.
Now, it’s worth noting that the show’s strengths remain unchanged; in other words, it would be dishonest to suggest that The Boys has suddenly lost its ability to deliver the dark, over-the-top fun that’s been a hallmark of the series since its debut. In short, the episodes still flow with a fair amount of ease, and it’s always a pleasure to lose oneself in the absurd and extremely violent situation of the moment or in the satire that has reached euphemistically high standards (the concentration camp in the premiere alone is a goldmine of details and controversial nods to today’s America).
From this perspective, the fifth season does not disappoint at all, nor does its uniquely rare ability to pull moments of devastating emotional impact out of the hat amidst the exquisitely trashy flair of its set pieces. Two in particular surprised us enormously (truly stunning character arcs) and, as we wrote in our preview, we were convinced they were just the appetizer or even the main course, when in fact they turned out to be the only highlights. The rest of the episodes, in fact, resemble more of a disaster riddled with old and new problems, as well as choices we can only describe as disrespectful to the fandom.
All of The Boys’ long-standing flaws have resurfaced even more forcefully than before: introducing a drastic plot twist only to immediately restore the status quo without any noteworthy consequences, out-of-place conversations at the worst possible moments (given the stakes and the tight timeline, every exchange between Annie and Hughie feels completely detached from reality), feats accomplished through such trivial tricks that they only make you wonder why they weren’t done sooner, subplots devoid of any connection or impact on the main storyline (Abyss and Noir, we’re clearly talking about you), and plot points repeated ad nauseam, as if the fact that Butcher isn’t exactly a good person could still surprise anyone after nearly 40 episodes.
Awkward Choices and Lack of Respect
These are indeed shortcomings that have recurred frequently throughout The Boys’ run, but seeing them all crammed together in the final season leaves no room for excuses of any kind and significantly lowers the quality. In addition, the script introduces other flaws: characters who change their minds every episode (Soldier First and Foremost, but Sage isn’t far behind—does anyone really still believe her power is intelligence?), key figures barely mentioned or given minuscule roles (Ryan and Marie—any resemblance is purely coincidental), and a plot that barely moves forward and gets lost in highly redundant subplots. The aspect that, however, marks the failure of the fifth season for us is another one, inextricably linked to two specific names that hover over the show like spectres: Gen V (and here we invite you to check out our review of Gen V 2) and Vought Rising.
The way the characters were handled and the connections to Gen V caught us off guard, as it seems the show’s ties to the spin-off were seen more as a nuisance than anything else. And the laughable use of its protagonists confirms this, with an entire season that first presents them as a potential cure-all for every problem, only to shelve them and diminish them the moment they actually enter the scene. How can we (at least as outsiders) not view this as a lack of respect toward another production and its fans?
And finally, let’s not forget Vought Rising, the prequel spin-off centered on the exploits of Little Soldier and his team. We don’t want to paint ourselves as naive souls oblivious to the ways of the world; it was only natural that, in some way, The Boys would offer a sort of passing of the torch or at least significant hints about its “successor.” The medium may well be an art form, but at the same time it’s a business, and if you have a product in your hands, you have to find a way to sell it, to make it known, and to cultivate a “healthy” FOMO. Like it or not, this is the market and these are its rules; we accept it, albeit with a touch of stinging bitterness. What we do not accept, however, is having spent nearly two episodes—a quarter of the final season of a series—acting as a full-fledged commercial for another production, with minimal and incredibly forced ties to the main plot.
Everything else, then, takes a back seat; it no longer matters much whether the episodes in question were entertaining enough or whether they contained emotional and painful moments. The message that it’s acceptable, for a final season, to spend hours building hype for a spin-off or another TV show in general simply cannot be allowed to take hold—it cannot be the new normal. Once again, this is a lack of respect for the audience that has passionately followed the show for seven years, and it is the ultimate proof that The Boys has lost touch with its story to wallow in its satirical and ironically corporate spirit, when it actually shone brightest in balancing its extremes.
The paradox of the final season of The Boys is that its strengths remain intact. Its satire of modern-day America is sharper than ever, and the sheer delight in its trashy, bloody excesses is still at the heart of it all; in short, there’s an underlying appeal that’s impossible to ignore. But, at the same time, it’s not enough for a final season that, in every other aspect (narrative, structural, thematic), has opted for choices that are embarrassing or even show a complete lack of respect for its audience. It is unacceptable for a final season to have all the show’s historical flaws amplified to the point of absurdity and accompanied by new ones; it is not possible to spend an entire season building hype around certain Gen V characters and then shelve them, belittling them as soon as they appear; it is intolerable to spend nearly two entire episodes serving as a commercial—or nearly so—for another show. And a finale that is satisfying in some ways but very slapdash simply can’t save the day this time.
